Using the Pencil tool

Every now and then you'll find that you just can't get the affect your looking …for using anchor points within curves. In such cases, the key is to use the …pencil tool to draw you're own custom curve or a custom portion of the curve to …ensure exactly the results you're looking for. …As you'll see, this can be a much better approach than chasing the curve around as …you add anchor points all over the place in an effort to tame a wild curve. …In this particular image, the curve is probably doing more harm than good.…

As you can see there are some areas where the color looks artificial, and there …seems to be a little bit of posterization as well. …That of course is because the curve is less than ideal in terms of its shape. …Now, I could work with the individual anchor points and try to correct the …problem that way, but once you have a good familiarity with curves, quite often …you'll find that you can actually invision what the curves should look …like, and sometimes making the curve look that way using the anchor points isn't …

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Released

12/10/2010

The Curves adjustment in Adobe Photoshop has a reputation for being challenging for some photographers. In this workshop, Photoshop expert Tim Grey takes you step by step through every aspect of the Curves adjustment, helping you truly understand the concepts behind it so that you can quickly and easily maximize tonal range, optimize contrast, and enhance your photos' color balance. Note: This course was recorded in Photoshop CS5, but was created with users of both Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop CS4 in mind.